Moscow Hit With Burst of Road Rage.

(From The Moscow Times)

Alexander Lavrushin was crossing Prospekt Vernardskogo on his way to class at Moscow State Pedagogical University when the driver of a Mercedes coupe stopped his car, got out and punched him twice in the face.

Lavrushin, 17, died on the spot, which might have come as a surprise except that the driver, Anatoly Siluyanov, was an unemployed 20-year-old man on his way home from Greco-Roman wrestling practice, the Trud newspaper reported last month.

Siluyanov told police that he was angry because Lavrushin had crossed the street too slowly and kicked his car with his foot, the Vesti-24 news channel said.

Road rage appears to be a growing problem as traffic jams worsen in Moscow, although no official statistics are kept on what is seen as a Western phenomenon.

"Five or six years ago, this kind of crime was unheard of," said Vyacheslav Lysakov, head of an organization of drivers, the Free Choice Motorists' Movement.

He said the situation on the road largely has improved in recent years, as drivers and pedestrians increasingly respect each other and the law. "Still, Russia is beginning to see more cases of what had previously been a more strictly Western phenomenon -- uncontrollable violence on the road," he said.